Oh Lordi, it's Halloween!!!!!
Category: Music

On the 31st - All hallos Eve - some may party in fancy dress clothes, others may take to the streets to trick or treat and then theirs me - I went to a metal gig!

Having not been to a proper gig since last October, the excitement of going to see a well known music act had taken over me.  Dressed in my casual jeans and trainers - you never know whats going to happen at a rock gig - and my System of A Down T-shirt, I headed to The Forum in Kentish Town. 

Arriving at the station startled me, as not one person seemed like they would be going to this gig - the usual crowd wearing black - and I worried I had the wrong night.  How wrong I was?

When I headed towards the entrance, everything seemed quiet and still.  That was until I opened the door to the circle.  The reason no one was outside was they had all packed in tightly to the venue already and Lordi were just about to start.

Known for the winning of the Eurovision Song Contest this year, this Finnish band have done extremely well, proving this with a full european tour ending in London.  Liked not only for their individuality in the contest - apart from that German guy a few years back, who has ever entered the Eurovision with a proper metal song - but also the effort of the costumes and light show they brought with them.

Tonight they have decided on having an eerie castle as their set - very fitting for Halloween - with movable props and unusual backdrops to the immitation windows.  When the stage first lit up, the reaction from the audience was immense and the crowd did not calm until the first song started.  Every track stood it's own ground, with new items being taken on and off stage and lighting changing like their was no tomorrow.  The audience also seemed to be a mixed bag.  Although I did not see any very small kids, their were people dressed in all sorts - from casual work gear to a man dressed as a cuddly werewolf, lol - and I even saw a women of about 65-70 heading down the stairs.  I thought she was leaving but she soon came back from what was obviously just a trip to the toliet.

The band obviously knew they could build up the audience without losing people to the exit - this became more apparent when they not only had a section dedicated to a drum solo, but had two encore's - talk about GREEDY!!!!  The 2nd of which was the all awaited "Hard Rock Hallelujah" from the competition. 

One of the best things about the gig was it wasn't just about the music, it was about the experience - it was more like a theatre show with audience participation.  The time and money that must have gone into the tour must have been riduculous.  The closest artist to do this kind of gig would be Alice Cooper and boy, have this group given him competition. I've never seen rotating saws, rocket launchers and explosions like this on stage. Ok, so they haven't driven a motorcycle through a giant skeleton's torso yet, but let's wait and see for next time around.  Another highlight of the night was converting my mum into a Lordi fan.  After unforseen circumstances, my mum accompanied me to the gig so I didn't go alone.  The funniest thing is she LOVED it and even bought a T-shirt at the end - even more amusing after she slatted them earlier this year for winning Eurovision.

The night overall was loud, crazy, fulfilling and brought back the history of classic metal.

All I can say, is I am glad I turned down free tickets for a sold out Scissor Sisters gig - they may have been good but would they have rocked!!!

1:22 AM - 0 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment

The truth about Temping
Category: Life

Isn't life weird.  Two days ago, I was wearing a big black cloak and celebrating one of the proudest days of my life - Graduation - and now I'm sitting in an office barely answering a phone and feeling quite unimportant.

Temping is one of the most bizarrest forms of work i have ever done - which is saying something for a person who has also done volunteer work.  Maybe it's just the people I've signed upto and the places I'm being sent or maybe this is just the world of temping.

At the moment I'm currently a stand in "receptionist" (which I will use in loose termanology).  Here, that actually means that within the last two days I have answered about 12 phonecalls - in nearly 16 hours - and thats it - LITERALLY!!!!  About half and hour ago I got to sign some cheques.  You actually don't know how exciting this prospect was against the rest of today.

It's not that I'm not grateful that I have been offered work, but it's that there is nothing to challenge me and no way to entertain myself while bored.  Luckily with this company I'm allowed to use my phone and play on the Internet.  I actually went to the extent of bringing in DVDs to watch and some photos to edit on here.  My particular computer however has the facilities to do this stuff but has not got a proper DVD drive or USB connection enabled - meaning the drives are there, just not the capabilities to use them.  I am only here for two weeks, so I'm not about to go changing and mucking around with their software.  At least I'm allowed to do something when I'm bored.  At a law firm uptown I worked for, they would rather watch me sit there for hours while paying my way, than let me do anything incase some important post or courier package came in - BLOODY RIDUCULOUS!!! 

I don't get a break here, which I found out on my first day.  I do get a break, it's kind of like most of the day, unfortunately I can't leave the building - as I'm the one looking after it - so all my food has to be bought on site or brought in from home.  You can get the other extreme of course.  I worked as a catering assistant for a week and found that I had to work 7 and half hours on my feet with half an hour break - so NOT enough for everything we had to do.

Oh and then theirs the places where you just don't feel safe - my first job I left after four days.  Let's just say, I felt constantly at risk and literally ran out of work for lunch and at the end of the day - it was awful!

I am just unlucky or maybe temping is exactly as I always expected it to be: pointless!!!  I can't say that I feel I'm really learning anything along the way.  I'm either working pittance for a manuel job in a career path I would never choose or bored out of my skull and hoping that the clock will speed up before I slit my own wrists - what a choice!

For all you ex-students or people with little money in the bank, BE WARNED!!!!!

Temping is an end to poverty but also your sanity.  Enjoy!

8:02 AM - 1 Comments - 2 Kudos - Add Comment

I'd forgotten the wonder of...

I'd forgotten the wonder of.....

Terry's Chocolate Orange - We get them as presents, yet never even think to buy them ourselves, yet they are so wonderous.  The other week I was lucky enough to recieve the milk chocolate kind from a dancer I was dressing.  After days of leaving the ball of sweetness on my shelf, I removed it from its cardboard packaging and threw it against the floor.  The sound of a chocolate ball breaking is awesome - not to sound dodgy to all the people who think I am not "innocent".  I ripped open the foil wrapping and saw the broken segments of a once solid matter.  I took one piece and placed it in my mouth - it was SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO nice!!! The orange flavour just melts in your mouth like it was meant to be. So nice infact that it was hard giving tiny amounts to my puppy dog faced brother - who had already insulted me by saying "It was ONLY a chocolate orange, BIG DEAL!!!" - and my loving mother.  (I'm sorry John and everyone else, but you just weren't here when it was being eaten).  Ah well, go out and buy one.  I'm sure you all have more money than me at the mo : ) Big Feet - do you REMEMBER these????????  They are GREAT!!!!!!!! (Without impersonating Tony the Tiger there) Big Feet were those ice-creams around when I was small - no insults, yes when there was a chocolate bar called 5,4,3,2,1 and "Bread" was still the highlight of BBC 1 television.  For those who missed this particular wonder the item is a strawberry and vailla ice-cream feet with the big toe covered in chocolate.  Well, when visiting Miss Cara in Derby, I saw a pack of four in a random supermarket - I made Cara let me buy them for pudding for the meal we were composing.  Unbelivably, I seemed to be the only one excited about these after dinner : ( But I don't care because I think their great!!!! All we need now is for the supermarkets in the south to realise the brillance of these past ice cream favourites and we're in business.  If anyone knows where we can buy these nearby, let me know.  Just remembered I made my family buy mini milks and their in the freezer - I'm going to grab one now : )

3:25 AM - 1 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment

Howdy partners

Just another quick hey from me.

It's cool to see so many of you on my space.  You know what, I have been on very few sites that I instantly adore - but this is GREAT!!!

I have added yet another madcap music video to the selection on there.  Even if your scared or unsure why Cara and I are acting like lunatics in it, at least listen to hear the wonder of Sultans of Ping's Where's me Jumper?  It's a classic.  Cara, Kate and Aaran know, so join them in understanding the brillance of riduculous songs.

Anywho, I've been editing once again and I'm knackered - and it's 1:29 in the morning.  That might not help. : s

Toodle loo for now,

Nikki. S xx

5:26 PM - 1 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment

My new space
Current mood: awake

Hey all and one,

                         I have finally got around to creating a my space.

Although I will be using this space in general, it will mainly be to broadcast short music videos I edit to see what peoples opinions are and to share with ym budskis.

I hope you look what my space has to offer.

Please don't be afraid to leave comments and when I get the chance I'll try and reply.

Ciao for now,

Nikki. xx

2:53 PM - 1 Comments - 2 Kudos - Add Comment